Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson

DOB

26/6/1984

Height

199 cm

Weight

103 kg

Junior club

Dandenong Stingrays/Frankston YCW JFC

Arrived

Pick 24 in the 2002 national draft

Number

42

Debut

Round 5 2003 vs Fremantle
(148th Eagles player)

Games

1

Goals

0

B&F Top 10

0

Best Finish

N/A

Last app.

Round 5 2003 vs Fremantle

Departed

Traded to Melbourne at the end of the 2004 season for pick 29 (Matt Rosa)

Other clubs

Dandenong (TAC Cup) 2002
Swan Districts (WAFL) 2003-2004
Melbourne (AFL) 2005-2010
Hawthorn (AFL) 2011
East Perth (WAFL) 2012-2016
Beverley (Avon FA) 2017-2018

Lumbering ruckman/key forward Paul Johnson played just a solitary game for West Coast, but achieved more success at Melbourne.

West Coast career

West Coast’s first pick in the 2002 draft (having traded its first rounder for Daniel Chick) was Dandenong product Paul Johnson. The big lumbering lad from Frankston didn’t have to wait too long to make his debut – getting his chance in the first derby of the 2003 season. After recording just one solitary handball, he was unsurprisingly sent back to Swan Districts the following week.

That one handball was Johnson’s sole possession in his senior career at the Eagles, as he spent the rest of his two-year stint at the club with the Black Ducks before being traded home to Victoria. With West Coast boasting Cox, Gardiner and Seaby at the time he could be forgiven for being unable to force his way into the lineup as a ruckman, and he was never going to be the gorilla power forward the club needed.

Melbourne and Hawthorn career

Johnson shifted to Melbourne at the end of 2004 in return for a second-round pick that was used to nab Matt Rosa. He won a Liston Medal as the best and fairest in the VFL in his first season at the Dees, and ended up playing 68 senior games for the Demons over 6 seasons. After being delisted in 2010, he was the last player added to Hawthorn’s rookie list – the first (and so far only) player picked up under the new “train-on squad” rules. He played just one game for the Hawks before being delisted.

Post-AFL career

Johnson returned to the WAFL for the 2012 season after being recruited by East Perth. After a successful stint with the Royals, which included two best and fairests and four State appearances (and a Simpson Medal for being best afield in the 2012 encounter), he retired from WAFL duties at the end of the 2016 season and joined Avon Football Association side Beverley.

Stats

AFL	Gm	G	B	K	M	H	D	T	Cl	WAFL	Gm	G
2003	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	SD	15	21
2004	0										17	20

References

http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/P/Paul_Johnson0.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Johnson_(Australian_footballer_born_1984)

http://www.wafl.com.au/players/view/940